Armenia still offers Azerbaijan to start unblocking process without delay — MFA

Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan responded to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s latest statement that falsely accused Armenia of “negligence” in relation to its obligations under the 9 November 2020 trilateral declaration in the context of the unblocking of regional communications.

“First of all, we should take a look at the facts. The November 9, 2020 trilateral declaration provides for Russian peacekeepers to be stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh and a 5-kilometer-wide Lachin Corridor under the control of the Russian peacekeepers, but there is neither a Lachin Corridor nor Russian peacekeepers.

The November 9, 2020 trilateral declaration envisages the return of internally displaced persons and refugees to the Nagorno-Karabakh area and adjacent regions under the supervision of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, but Azerbaijan declares that there is no Nagorno-Karabakh territory, which essentially means a refusal to fulfill this obligation envisaged in the trilateral declaration. To this day, not a single Armenian refugee or internally displaced person has returned, neither to the Nagorno-Karabakh area nor the adjacent areas.

The November 9, 2020 trilateral declaration envisages the exchange of prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons. To this day, Armenians are held in Azerbaijani prisons, including those captured in November or October of 2020. Azerbaijan says these persons are not prisoners of war. If they are not prisoners of war, then they are hostages or other detained persons; the wording of the trilateral declaration covers any incarcerated person. Azerbaijan has also been constantly raising the issue of the missing persons.

The Republic of Armenia is also raising this issue because the Armenian side itself has nearly one thousand missing persons as a result of the two wars, and we are ready to cooperate in this issue as well. And in relation to Article 9 of the trilateral declaration, this article envisages that the Republic of Armenia shall organize the passage of cargo, vehicles, and persons in its territory and guarantee their security. This is very clearly written in the declaration. It is clear that the Republic of Armenia shall do this within the framework of its jurisdiction and sovereignty. Regarding the Russian FSB border guard bodies, Article 9 of the trilateral declaration does not envisage their physical presence. 

The Armenian government’s Crossroads of Peace project also accurately reflects the roadmap of fulfillment of Armenia’s obligations, and we have conveyed proposals within this framework to the Azerbaijani side. Being interested in the unblocking of all transport and economic infrastructure in the region, which is actually envisaged in the trilateral declaration, we have offered and still offer Azerbaijan to start the process of implementing the unblocking without delay,” the spokesperson told Armenpress.